Display device



March 10, 1953 D. G. WATROUS ET AL 1,

DISPLAY DEVICE Filed May 24, 1949 Patented Mar. 10, 1953 DISPLAY DEVICE David G. Watrous, Janesville, Wis., and James Doig, Chicago, 111., assignors to The Parker Pen Company, Janesville, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application May 24, 1949, Serial No. 95,128 1 Claim. 01. 312-114) This invention relates generally to a display and has to do more particularly with a display device for supporting an article to be displayed on the face of a transparent member, such as a windowpane, showcase wall; or the like, in such manner that the article is fully visible from all sides.

An object of the present invention is to provide the new and improveddisplay device of the foregoing character Another object is to provide a display device adapted to support an article to be displayed on a windowpane, transparent showcase wall, or other transparent wall member. whereby the article is fully visible from all directions and is attractively displayed. 5

Another object is to provide a display device whereby an article to be displayed may be supported on the inside of a windowpane, showcase wall, or the like, in such manner that the article has substantially the appearance of being suspended in space, the article-supporting means being so inconspicuous as not'to distract the attention of the observer from the article being displayed. A further'object is to provide a display device which both supports and completely encloses and protects the article being displayed, but which at the same time fully exposes the article to view from all directions. 7

A still further object is to provide a display casing which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured and which may be attached to a windowpane or showcase wall, or the like, quickly and easily by an unskilled person.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a display in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, front elevational view of the casing forming a part of the display of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, horizontal sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1; and f Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of a detail and showing particularly the arrangement of adhesive for securing the casing to a supporting member.

Thepresent invention is directed particularly to the provision of a display whereby an article to be displayed is supported from a transparent supporting member such as, for example, the pane of a store window, or the front wall of a showcase, or the like, in such manner that the article may be readily viewed by the public from various angles. The article is supported in such manner that the supporting means is relatively inconspicuous and does not divert the attention of the viewer from the article itself. In fact, the display creates somewhat the appearance of the article being supported in space behind the windowpane or other supporting member, which adds to the novelty and interest created by the display. Moreover, the display is so constructed that it encloses the article so that the latter not only is firmly supported in display position but at the same time is protected against dust and moisture and therefore may be displayed for a long period of time without deterioration of the article or diminution in the attractiveness of the display.

To the foregoing ends, there is provided a display casing I0 which is adapted to receive and support the article and which is so constructed that it may be secured to a transparent member H such as a windowpane. The casing may take various shapes, and preferably the shape of the casing is selected so as to impartto the display the greatest degree of attractiveness. It has been found in most instances that it is desirable to so shape the casing that it conforms in a general way to the shape of the article being displayed, and to support the article in the casing in such manner that there is approximately equal spacingbetween the exterior of the article and the interior wall of the casing. In the present illustrative example, the display casing is designed to receive and support an elongated, relatively flat box or casing l2 (shown in broken lines in Fig. 1) having a hinged lid, which box will be recognized as similar to boxes or cases commonly employed for containing articles such as fountain pens and pencils, jewelry, and the like.

The display casing ID of the present illustrative embodiment is of generally concave or dished form and has a rim l3 surrounding its open front, which rim is of such form that it is adapted to continuously abut the face of the member to which it is attached. Since windowpanes and showcase walls are generally planar, the rim is preferably of planar form and is provided with a forward planar face [4 adapted to fit against a planar support such as the windowpane H.

The casing 10 is formed with a body portion which may take any suitable form and which in the present illustrative embodiment includes a principal wall having a bottom portion l6 which preferably is straight and is inclined upwardly and inwardly toward the rear of the casing so as to support article [2 to be displaced, in a position here it can be readily observed. The casing It? also has a top wall I? which merges into a rear wall [8 of arcuate construction, as does the bottom Wall I5. End walls 19, which in the illustrative embodiment are flat and extend perpendicularly to the rim, are provided for closing the ends of the casing.

Means are provided within the casing for supporting the article to be displayed in a suitable position for displaying it to the 'best'ad'vantage; To this end, the casing it is provided with a suitable support which in the present illustrative embodiment takes the form of a pair of upstanding pads 26 indented from the bottom wall It of the casing and which are of corresponding thiclrness. The pads 29 are suitably shaped to receive and support the article to be displayed, and in the present embodiment are formed with hat top surfaces which are inclined, both with respectto the plane of the bottom wall and to each other, in order to effectively accommodate the article l2 which, in the form illustrated, has a somewhat convex bottom surface. It is to be understood, of course, that the supporting means for the article to be displayed may take other forms and may be constituted, for example, by the bottom wall itself or by a shelf extending within the casing. However, it is generally preferable,'for reasons which will appear as the des'cription proceeds, that the supporting means he as inconspicuous as practicable and that it support the article away from the walls of the casing. For this reason it has generally been found preferable to employ a small pad or pads instead of a complete shelf. If desired, the pads may be provided with perforations 24 extending through the top wall thereof for permitting a screw or other fastening member (not shown) tobe extended therethrough into holding cooperation with the article to be supported.

The casing I is formed from a material which istransparent and preferably water-white. Pref erably also the material is one which has an index of light refraction which 'is approximately equal 'to that of window glass, so that the easing has an appearance similar to that of window glass. Moreover, the material is one which is not injured by temperatures of the order of those which occur in shop windows, which temperatures sometimes are relatively high owing to the effect of strong sunlight and warm weather temperatures, as well as of floodlights which are commonly used in illuminating show windows. In addition, the material is one which does not change in color or transparency under the effects of bright light, heat, or other atmospheric conditions which may occur within the show window or other location in which the display is placed. The material is one which is relatively inexpensive and may be molded readily to "the desired shape. In forming the display casing we prefer to employ a transparent plastic material having the above-mentioned characteristics, a preferred example of which is methyl methacrylate resin, available commercially under the trade name Lucite from E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company of Wilmington, Delaware.

The display casing H1 is adhesively secured to the transparentsupport 'll, which, as above 4 stated, may be a windowpane or the wall of a showcase, or other similar member, by a suitable adhesive. The adhesive is one which has the characteristic of adhering strongly to both the glass and to the plastic material from which the casing is formed, so that the casing when thus secured to the memberpll is capable of supporting substantial weight. The adhesive is not deteriorated and does not lose its effectiveness when subjected to conditions encountered in using the adhesive in the manner explained herein. Moreover, the adhesive is one which is water-white and has substantially the same degree of transparency and index of refraction as the material from which the casing is formed. Accordingly, when the adhesive is employed to attach the casing to the supporting member,

the adhesive is comparatively inconspicuous and the display casing has the appearance of being attached to the supporting member without any visible attaching means. A number of adhesive materials having the desired properties are available. Excellent results have been obtained by using an adhesive consisting of a 20% solution of polybutyl acrylate in ethyl acetate.

In order to insure firm and secure attachment of the display casing IE) to the supporting member H, the rim 13 of the former preferably is provided with an out-turned flange 22 having a width which is preferably at least as great as the material of the casing itself. Accordingly, an attaching surface is provided having a width approximately twice the thickness of the display casing. In order further to insure a firm attachment of the casing to the supporting member, the attaching surface is formed with a groove or slot 23 of substantial width and depth extending continuously around the entire attaching surface. The adhesive preferably is disposed in the groove 23, to fill the same, and applied over the entire attaching surface as indicated at 24 in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Preferably the adhesive is applied in the form ofa relatively thin layer over the entire supporting surface, which layer is of uniform thickness, thereby minimizing the conspicuousness ofthe adhesive material.

The display casing formed in accordance with the present invention provides a novel and attractive means for displaying an article of merchandise so that the latter may be viewed through the pane of a show window or through the wall of a showcase. The article is not only readily visible through the windowpane or showcase wall when the eyes of the observer are in a position directly opposite the open side of the casing, but also when the observer is in a position to View the article through both the windowpane and the casing, or where the observer is on the same side of the windowpane as the casing and views the article through the casing alone.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment or" the invention the article is supported at subthe casing and suitably positioning the casing against the windowpane until the cement has set. The casing and cement are not adversely affected by conditions which are likely to occur in a show window or showcase and the display therefore may be maintained for a long period of time without requiring any attention and without diminution in its attractiveness as a display.

We claim:

A display case of the type adapted to support an article to be displayed from a windowpane, said display case including a generally concave casing formed from transparent material and having side walls, a top wall portion, a rear wall portion, and a bottom wall portion inclined so as to extend upwardly and inwardly from the supporting windowpane, said top, rear and bottom wall portions forming a continuous wall free of sharp angles, said casing also having a flangelike rim around the perimeter of its open side formed with an outer fiat face, all portions of which face lie in a single plane for continuous abutment with the windowpane, said rim being provided with a continuous recess therein opening into said outer face, a quantity of transparent adhesive in said recess for securing said casing to the windowpane, whereby the casing and Windowpane together enclose and support the article to be displayed, with said article being visible on all sides thereof.

DAVID G. WATROUS. JAMES DO'IG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

